ROGAN
How is Bonnie?” Lucius asked. “I heard she burnt her hand. Is it better? Has it healed nicely or is it going to scar?”
Rogan groaned. He needed to talk about Bonnie and what he
was going to do but he didn’t want to do that right now.
“What happened?” Lucius asked. “Something had to have because you groaned when I said her name.”
Why did Lucius have to be so observant? Rogan liked that about him whenever they were doing business but not when they were just talking. Though, Rogan didn’t call him in to just chat. They needed to talk about Bonnie and her brother.
“Tell me,” Lucius said. “Don’t make me ask twenty times before you tell me. We don’t have time for that.”
How did he know if they had time for things or not?
“Fine. You want to know?” Rogan asked.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know.”
Rogan glared at Lucius. “Bonnie got in contact with her brother. And before you say anything, I let her, but I thought she just wanted to tell him she was safe.”
“Okay. Is that not what happened?”
“I wanted her to trust me and know she could talk to her brother.” Rogan was overexplaining, but he needed Lucius to know why he’d allowed her to call Ethan. “Something was off the first call and then she got one a couple of hours ago.”
“Get to the fucking point, mate,” Lucius said.
“Stop fucking saying mate. You aren’t British. You’re fucking Italian.” Rogan took a deep breath. They needed to get back on track so he could figure out what to do with Bonnie. He didn’t want to let her go, but he couldn’t get over the fact she didn’t tell him Ethan wanted her to spy on him. “Ethan wanted her to spy on me,” he blurted out.
“He did what?” Lucius asked. “Are you serious? What did she say?”
“Apparently Ethan asked her during the first phone call several days ago. Then she got another one a couple hours ago and he was giving her instructions or something. I could tell how nervous she was,” Rogan calmly said. “She told us after a while and said she tried to tell Ethan she wasn’t doing it.”
“That’s good. So what’s the problem?”
Sure, it felt good she’d said she wasn’t going to do it. Made Rogan feel amazing to know she wasn’t going to go against him, but at the same time she hadn’t told him about it. Was she thinking about it and the past couple of days changed her mind? That was what he was worried about. What if she’d considered it for a while and at any second she could turn on him?
“I don’t know if she had to think about it or not. What if she did and could turn on me, us, at any second?” Rogan asked. “She also mentioned there being a miscommunication between Ethan and I. She swears he doesn’t hurt innocent women and children and didn’t know about the kidnapping and abuse of our women and sisters.”
That was still bugging him. Was she telling the truth? There were a lot of rumors about her brother. Just like there were of him, but Ethan’s rumors were worse.
“And you don’t believe her?” Lucius asked. “How did you even find that out?”
“Bonnie was talking about her brother. She doesn’t know much, but he specifically told her he didn’t hurt innocent people. Apparently, they were raised right,” Rogan replied. “That’s what she kept saying, they were raised right.” Rogan rolled his eyes. “There was also something about Ethan not always being the king of the underworld but I don’t know anything about that. No one really knows how that happened. Sure, there are rumors but those are just rumors.”
Rogan tried to stay out of that particular subsection of the underworld.
They’d spent months trying to figure out how to get and save some of the girls who got trafficked through the underground in New York. But once they came to New York or the United States, they disappeared. After several months of not being able to track anything down, they’d given up. Wherever they were going was on lockdown and no one saw them move once they arrived.
“You do know rumors have to come from somewhere, right?” Lucius said. “Just like some of the ones about you. They start off as true and then people want them more extravagant when the effect wears off.”
“What she said can’t be true. About him growing up normal and then all of the sudden becoming the king of the underworld.” Rogan chuckled at the end. There was no way a kid who grew up normal all of a sudden took over organized crime.
“Some rumors say he did grow up normal and all of a sudden he shows up and gets super popular with the fighting.” Lucius shrugged his shoulders. “All the rumors start off the same way and then they go from there. But the most consistent one was of him getting super popular and he got close to the king of the underworld. Then one day he killed the king and took his place.”
Rogan looked at Lucius with unease. It was possible, but it just didn’t sit well with him.
“I can look and see if I can find any hard details about him rising up,” Lucius said. “But why don’t you just ask Bonnie? She is Ethan’s sister, after all. She has to know some of the stuff. Maybe not all the gory details, but the basic stuff.”
“Bonnie said he wasn’t raised like that and after their mother died, he started to fight underground,” Rogan replied. “Got super popular and then took over.”
It just seemed too simple.
“Then you have your answer right there. Ask her more about it,” Lucius pointed out. “Maybe she is right about you two not having to be enemies. I know we’ve hated the guy for a long time, but you love his sister now. You don’t want her to pick between you or him. You’ll tear her apart and it won’t be good.”
“I know. But Ethan is ruthless and worse than I am. I mean, the trafficking. You know we don’t do that stuff,” Rogan replied.
“Sure, but you don’t know what he does with them. They disappear right when they get to New York. He could be putting them in a safe house, or he could already have buyers. We don’t know but Bonnie said he didn’t hurt innocent women and children. Trafficking would be considered hurting innocent women and children.”
Rogan hadn’t thought about it that way.
Before he could reply, the door burst open.
“Daddy!” Raynar yelled. His eyes went wide when he noticed at Lucius, but he looked right back at Rogan. “Shit. Sorry. Bonnie has gone missing.”
His heart sank. “What do you mean missing?”
“There was a fire in the kitchen and Lino put it out with some of the other guards.” Tears were streaming down Raynar’s face. “Lino went to tell Bonnie it was all taken care of. She wasn’t in her room or anywhere in the house.”
“What the fuck?”
“Lino said her stuffed toy wasn’t there, but a pacifier was right next to the window. She must have left through the window.”
Rogan stood up, grabbed Raynar’s hand, and ran outside, straight to the car, with Lucius hot on their tails. He needed to find out what happened to Bonnie and where she went. Could she have gotten kidnapped while they were taking out the fire? Could she have left on her own? Why would she have wanted to do that?
“I’ll drive,” Lucius said.
He didn’t have to tell Rogan twice. Raynar got in the back and Rogan sat up in the front. While Lucius was driving, Rogan pulled up the security footage. She looked like death as she stared up at the camera in the kitchen. She’d deliberately set the paper towels on fire and yelled for her guards. Then, while the guards were distracted, Bonnie grabbed her bag and climbed out the window, leaving her pacifier behind when she slung her bag on.
Shit.
“The guards are already looking around the forest for her. Lino messaged me and said they got the dogs there, but they need something with her scent on it,” Raynar said.
“Pacifier. Dirty clothes,” Rogan said. “On it.”
Rogan could hear the worry in Raynar’s voice as he spoke. He turned around and looked at him.
“We’re going to find her,” he said. “I promise.”
He couldn’t lose her now. They were all finally getting along. Sure, the whole Ethan wanting her to spy on him was a bump in the road, but he’d been planning to come back to her once he figured everything out.
“Please,” Raynar whispered.
Rogan hadn’t realized how attached Raynar had gotten. They hadn’t interacted much because Bonnie was always shy.
“We will,” Rogan replied. “Promise.”
They arrived at the house and quickly got out. The dogs were waiting with their handlers.
“We’ve got the stuff,” Lino said. “Wanted to wait for you.”
“Thank you,” Rogan replied. “They can go now.”
He wanted to yell at them that they should have already gotten started but he held himself back. It wouldn’t make them go any faster. They needed to find Bonnie quickly. Night was approaching and Bonnie was afraid of the dark.
“She’s scared,” Raynar said.
Rogan pulled him into his arms and kissed his forehead. “Why don’t you wait in the house while we try to find her.”
“No.”
“It’ll be safe for you. And you can make sure everything is ready for when we do find her. No doubt she’s cold and will need all the love she can get. And warm drinks.”
Raynar stared at him for a couple of seconds before he nodded his head.
“Good boy. I’ll keep you updated,” Rogan said, kissing his forehead once more.
He watched as Raynar went back into the house. The dogs had already started to follow a trail and he hoped it would lead to her fast.
“Dog one has the strongest lead. You can track him with this,” Lino said, handing Rogan a device.
“Thanks,” Rogan replied and looked over at Angelo who had just gotten there. “Come with me.”